Method and apparatus for handling repetitions of physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission in wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

A method performed by a User Equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes the UE receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration including a first parameter configured with a first value and a second parameter configured with at least one second value. Each of the first value and the at least one second value indicates a number of PUSCH repetitions. The method further includes the UE receiving Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) scheduling a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, selecting, according to the DCI, one of the first parameter and the second parameter to determine a number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission, determining the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission as the first value when the first parameter is selected, determining the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission as one of the at least one second value indicated by the DCI when the second parameter is selected, and performing the PUSCH transmission for a number of times based on the number of PUSCH repetitions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

The present disclosure claims the benefit of and priority to provisionalU.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 62/875,335 (“the '335 provisional”),filed on Jul. 17, 2019, entitled “Operation among Enhanced Repetition ofPUSCH Transmission.” The content(s) of all above-named application(s)are fully incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to wireless communications, andmore particularly, to methods and apparatuses for handling repetitionsof a Physical Uplink (UL) Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission in awireless communication system.

BACKGROUND

With the tremendous growth in the number of connected devices and therapid increase in user/network traffic volume, various efforts have beenmade to improve different aspects of wireless communication for the nextgeneration wireless communication system, such as the fifth generation(5G) New Radio (NR), by improving data rate, latency, reliability andmobility.

The 5G NR system is designed to provide flexibility and configurabilityto optimize the network services and types, accommodating various usecases such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), massive Machine-TypeCommunication (mMTC), and Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication(URLLC).

However, as the demand for radio access continues to increase, there isa need for further improvements of wireless communication for the nextgeneration wireless communication system.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed to methods and apparatuses forhandling repetitions of a PUSCH transmission in a wireless communicationsystem.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed bya User Equipment (UE) for handling repetitions of transmissions in awireless communication system is provided. The method includes a UEreceiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration including a firstparameter configured with a first value and a second parameterconfigured with at least one second value. Each of the first value andthe at least one second value indicates a number of Physical UplinkShared Channel (PUSCH) repetitions. The method further includes the UEreceiving Downlink Control Information (DCI) on a Physical DownlinkControl Channel (PDCCH) scheduling a PUSCH transmission, selecting,according to the DCI, one of the first parameter and the secondparameter to determine a number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission, applying the first value as the number of repetitions forthe PUSCH transmission when the first parameter is selected, applyingone of the at least one second value indicated by the DCI as the numberof PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission when the secondparameter is selected, and performing the PUSCH transmission for anumber of times. The number of times is determined by the number ofPUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a UE for handlingrepetitions of transmissions in a wireless communication system isprovided. The UE includes one or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon and atleast one processor coupled to the one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable media. The at least one processor is configured toexecute the computer-executable instructions to receive an RRCconfiguration including a first parameter configured with a first valueand a second parameter configured with at least one second value. Eachof the first value and the at least one second value indicates a numberof PUSCH repetitions. The at least one processor is further configuredto execute the computer-executable instructions to receive DCI on aPDCCH scheduling a PUSCH transmission, select, according to the DCI, oneof the first parameter and the second parameter to determine a number ofPUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission, apply the first value asthe number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission when thefirst parameter is selected, apply one of the at least one second valueindicated by the DCI as the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission when the second parameter is selected, and perform thePUSCH transmission for a number of times. The number of times isdetermined by the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. Variousfeatures are not drawn to scale. Dimensions of various features may bearbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a PUSCH transmission scheduled by aPDCCH, in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a PUSCH transmission scheduled by aPDCCH, in accordance with another implementation of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating repetitions of a PUSCH transmissioncrossing a downlink (DL) symbol or a slot boundary when thenon-slot-based repetition scheme is applied, in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a repetition of a PUSCH transmissioncrossing a DL symbol when the non-slot-based repetition scheme isapplied, in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a PUSCH transmission corresponding to aUL grant with the value of S+L larger than the number of symbols perslot, in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a repetition of a PUSCH transmissioncrossing a flexible symbol when the non-slot-based repetition scheme isapplied, in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a user equipment (UE) switching betweena dynamic indication mode and a non-dynamic indication mode, inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a procedure performed by a UE, inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a procedure performed by a UE, inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a node for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

DESCRIPTION

The following description contains specific information pertaining toexemplary implementations in the present disclosure. The drawings in thepresent disclosure and their accompanying detailed description aredirected to merely exemplary implementations. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited to merely these exemplary implementations.Other variations and implementations of the present disclosure willoccur to those skilled in the art. Unless noted otherwise, like orcorresponding elements among the figures may be indicated by like orcorresponding reference numerals. Moreover, the drawings andillustrations in the present disclosure are generally not to scale, andare not intended to correspond to actual relative dimensions.

The following description contains specific information pertaining toexample implementations in the present disclosure. The drawings in thepresent disclosure and their accompanying detailed description aredirected to merely example implementations. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited to merely these example implementations. Othervariations and implementations of the present disclosure will occur tothose skilled in the art. Unless noted otherwise, like or correspondingelements among the figures may be indicated by like or correspondingreference numerals. Moreover, the drawings and illustrations in thepresent disclosure are generally not to scale, and are not intended tocorrespond to actual relative dimensions.

For the purpose of consistency and ease of understanding, like featuresare identified (although, in some examples, not illustrated) by numeralsin the example figures. However, the features in differentimplementations may differ in other respects, and thus shall not benarrowly confined to what is illustrated in the figures.

References to “one implementation,” “an implementation,” “exampleimplementation,” “various implementations,” “some implementations,”“implementations of the present disclosure,” etc., may indicate that theimplementation(s) of the present disclosure so described may include aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every possibleimplementation of the present disclosure necessarily includes theparticular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated useof the phrase “in one implementation,” “in an example implementation,”or “an implementation,” do not necessarily refer to the sameimplementation, although they may. Moreover, any use of phrases like“implementations” in connection with “the present disclosure” are nevermeant to characterize that all implementations of the present disclosuremust include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic, andshould instead be understood to mean “at least some implementations ofthe present disclosure” includes the stated particular feature,structure, or characteristic. The term “coupled” is defined asconnected, whether directly or indirectly through interveningcomponents, and is not necessarily limited to physical connections. Theterm “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarilylimited to”; it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion ormembership in the so-described combination, group, series and theequivalent.

The term “and/or” herein is only an association relationship fordescribing associated objects, and represents that three relationshipsmay exist, for example, A and/or B may represent that: A exists alone, Aand B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. “A and/or B and/or C”may represent that at least one of A, B and C exists. In addition, thecharacter “/” used herein generally represents that the former andlatter associated objects are in an “or” relationship.

Additionally, for the purposes of non-limiting explanation, specificdetails, such as functional entities, techniques, protocols, standard,and the like are set forth for providing an understanding of thedescribed technology. In other examples, detailed description ofwell-known methods, technologies, system, architectures, and the likeare omitted so as not to obscure the description with unnecessarydetails.

Persons skilled in the art will immediately recognize that any networkfunction(s) or algorithm(s) described in the present disclosure may beimplemented by hardware, software or a combination of software andhardware. Described functions may correspond to modules that may besoftware, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. The softwareimplementation may comprise computer executable instructions stored oncomputer readable medium such as memory or other type of storagedevices. For example, one or more microprocessors or general purposecomputers with communication processing capability may be programmedwith corresponding executable instructions and carry out the describednetwork function(s) or algorithm(s). The microprocessors or generalpurpose computers may be formed of Applications Specific IntegratedCircuitry (ASIC), programmable logic arrays, and/or using one or moreDigital Signal Processor (DSPs). Although some of the exampleimplementations described in this specification are oriented to softwareinstalled and executing on computer hardware, nevertheless, alternativeexample implementations implemented as firmware or as hardware orcombination of hardware and software are well within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

The computer readable medium includes but is not limited to RandomAccess Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Erasable ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-OnlyMemory (EEPROM), flash memory, Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM),magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or any otherequivalent medium capable of storing computer-readable instructions.

A radio communication network architecture (e.g., a Long Term Evolution(LTE) system, a LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, or a LTE-Advanced Prosystem) typically includes at least one Base Station (BS), at least oneUE, and one or more optional network elements that provide connectiontowards a network. The UE communicates with the network (e.g., a CoreNetwork (CN), an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network, an Evolved UniversalTerrestrial Radio Access network (E-UTRAN), a Next-Generation Core(NGC), or an Internet), through a Radio Access Network (RAN) establishedby the BS.

It should be noted that, in the present disclosure, a UE may include,but is not limited to, a mobile station, a mobile terminal or device, auser communication radio terminal. For example, a UE may be a portableradio equipment, which includes, but is not limited to, a mobile phone,a tablet, a wearable device, a sensor, or a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA) with wireless communication capability. The UE is configured toreceive and transmit signals over an air interface to one or more cellsin a RAN.

A BS may include, but not limited to, a Node B (NB) as in the UniversalMobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), an evolved Node B (eNB) as inthe LTE-A, a Radio Network Controller (RNC) as in the UMTS, a BaseStation Controller (BSC) as in the Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM)/GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), an ng-eNB asin an E-UTRA BS in connection with the 5GC, a next generation Node B(gNB) as in the 5G Access Network (5G-AN), and any other apparatuscapable of controlling radio communication and managing radio resourceswithin a cell. The BS may connect to serve the one or more UEs through aradio interface to the network.

A BS may be configured to provide communication services according to atleast one of the following Radio Access Technologies (RATs): WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), GSM (often referred to as2G), GERAN, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), UMTS (often referred toas 3G) based on basic Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA),High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), LTE, LTE-A, eLTE, NR (often referred toas 5G), and LTE-A Pro. However, the scope of the present disclosureshould not be limited to the above mentioned protocols.

The BS may be operable to provide radio coverage to a specificgeographical area using a plurality of cells being included the RAN. TheBS may support the operations of the cells. Each cell is operable toprovide services to at least one UE within its radio coverage. Morespecifically, each cell (often referred to as a serving cell) mayprovide services to serve one or more UEs within its radio coverage,(e.g., each cell schedules the DL and optionally Uplink (UL) resourcesto at least one UE within its radio coverage for DL and optionally ULpacket transmissions). The BS may communicate with one or more UEs inthe radio communication system through the plurality of cells. A cellmay allocate sidelink (SL) resources for supporting proximity service(ProSe). Each cell may have overlapped coverage areas with other cells.In MR-DC cases, the primary cell of an MCG or an SCG may be called as aSpecial Cell (SpCell). A PCell may refer to the SpCell of an MCG. APSCell may refer to the SpCell of an SCG. MCG means a group of servingcells associated with the MN, comprising of the SpCell and optionallyone or more secondary cells (SCells). SCG means a group of serving cellsassociated with the SN, comprising of the SpCell and optionally one ormore SCells.

As discussed above, the frame structure for NR is to support flexibleconfigurations for accommodating various next generation (e.g., 5G)communication requirements, such as eMBB, mMTC and URLLC, whilefulfilling high reliability, high data rate and low latencyrequirements. The orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)technology as agreed in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) mayserve as a baseline for an NR waveform. The scalable OFDM numerology,such as the adaptive sub-carrier spacing, the channel bandwidth, and thecyclic prefix (CP), may also be used. Additionally, two coding schemesare considered for NR: (1) low-density parity-check (LDPC) code and (2)polar code. The coding scheme adaption may be configured based on thechannel conditions and/or the service applications.

Moreover, it is also considered that in a transmission time interval ofa single NR frame, a DL transmission data, a guard period, and a ULtransmission data should at least be included, where the respectiveportions of the DL transmission data, the guard period, the ULtransmission data should also be configurable, for example, based on thenetwork dynamics of NR. In addition, sidelink resource may also beprovided in an NR frame to support ProSe services.

In the 3GPP Release 16 (Rel-16) NR wireless communication system, a UEmay be configured to periodically, discontinuously, or continuouslymonitor a PDCCH in the time domain and find a possible dynamic UL grant(scheduling) that is scheduled by a gNB via the PDCCH. For example, theUL grant may be received on (UE-specific) DCI with Cyclic RedundancyCheck (CRC) bit(s) scrambled by a UE-specific Radio Network TemporaryIdentifier (RNTI) (e.g., Cell-RNTI (C-RNTI)). The DCI may be found bythe UE on the PDCCH via blind decoding. The DCI may indicate a UL grantof a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). For example, the DCI mayindicate the time and frequency locations of the PUSCH. Once the ULgrant is obtained, the UE may perform the corresponding UL datatransmission (or “PUSCH transmission”) on the PUSCH by utilizing the ULgrant. For example, the PUSCH transmission may include transmitting aTransport Block (TB) at the UE. It is noted that the term “PUSCHtransmission/repetition” and the term “TB transmission/repetition” maybe interchangeable in some implementations of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, a PUSCH transmission(s) may be dynamicallyscheduled by a BS (e.g., a gNB) via a UL grant in the DCI, or scheduledby a configured grant of Type 1 or Type 2.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a PUSCH transmission scheduled by aPDCCH, in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.It should be noted that even though each subframe (e.g., the subframe nand the subframe n+1) includes two slots (e.g., the slot 0 and the slot1) in the example implementation illustrated in FIG. 1, each subframemay include any number of slots in other implementations of the presentdisclosure. For example, the number of slots in each subframe may bedetermined based on a configuration of numerology. In addition, a fixednumber of symbols may be contained in each slot.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, three parameters, K₂, S and L, may be used todetermine the time location and duration of a PUSCH 104 scheduled by aPDCCH 102. For example, the parameter K₂ may be used to determine a slotoffset between the slot (e.g., the slot 0) containing the PDCCH (e.g.,the PDCCH 102) carrying the DCI that indicates a PUSCH resourceassignment and the slot (e.g., the slot 1) containing the PUSCH resourceassigned by the DCI (e.g., the PUSCH 104). The parameters S may be anindex of the starting symbol of the scheduled PUSCH (e.g., the PUSCH104) in the slot (e.g., the slot 1) indicated by K₂. The parameter L maybe the number of consecutive symbols of the scheduled PUSCH (e.g., thePUSCH 104) in the indicated slot (e.g., the slot 1).

In some implementations, the values of K₂, S and L for each dynamicgrant from a BS may be derived by a UE based on a configuration for thenumerology of a Bandwidth Part (BWP) and/or an index (e.g., a timedomain resource assignment) contained in the DCI.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a PUSCH scheduled by a PDCCH, inaccordance with another implementation of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 2, there are two slots (e.g., slot 0 and slot 1) ineach subframe, and each slot contains 14 symbols (e.g., the symbol 0 tothe symbol 13). In the example implementation illustrated in FIG. 2, theparameters K₂, S and L are configured as “1,” “3” and “5,” respectively.Therefore, the UL resource scheduled by the BS on a PUSCH may start fromthe symbol 3 of the slot 1 and end at the symbol 7 of the slot 1.

In an NR wireless communication system, a PUSCH repetition scheme may beused to increase the reliability of data transmission. The PUSCHrepetition scheme may include a UE performing a PUSCH transmissionrepeatedly, where the number of times that the UE performs the PUSCHtransmission may be referred to as the number of PUSCH repetitions. Itis noted that the phrases “the number of PUSCH repetitions,” “the numberof nominal PUSCH repetitions,” “the number of repetitions,” “the numberof nominal repetitions,” “the number of repetitions of a PUSCHtransmission,” “the number of nominal repetitions of a PUSCHtransmission,” and “the number of PUSCH transmissions” may beinterchangeable in some implementations of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, in order to fulfill the requirement of URLLC,the PUSCH repetition scheme may be implemented as performing a PUSCHtransmission repeatedly by a UE in several consecutive slots, where eachrepeated PUSCH transmission (or “PUSCH repetition”) in each slot mayhave the same symbol allocation (e.g., corresponding to the same valuesof S and L). This type of PUSCH repetition scheme may be referred to asa slot-based repetition scheme.

In some implementations, an improved PUSCH repetition scheme isprovided. Compared to the slot-based repetition scheme, the improvedPUSCH repetition scheme can reduce the time interval between each twoadjacent PUSCH repetitions, so as to decrease the overall transmissiontime required for the transmission delay spreading among the PUSCHrepetitions. For example, the enhanced PUSCH repetition scheme may allowa UE to perform one or more repeated PUSCH transmissions (or “PUSCHrepetitions”) in a slot. In addition, the number of PUSCH repetitionsmay be expected to support a dynamic change for each dynamic scheduling.The improved PUSCH repetition scheme may be referred to as anon-slot-based repetition scheme.

In some implementations, when a BS schedules a UE to perform a PUSCHtransmission, the BS may dynamically instruct the UE to perform thePUSCH transmission with the slot-based repetition scheme or thenon-slot-based repetition scheme.

In some implementations, a non-slot-based repetition scheme may includethe operations listed below (e.g., operations (a) to (f)). However, itshould be noted that the listed operations are shown for illustrativepurposes only, and are not mean to limit the scope of the presentdisclosure. For example, one or more of operations listed below may benot be included in the non-slot-based repetition scheme in someimplementations of the present disclosure.

The operations (a) through (f) may include:

(a) a BS (e.g., a gNB) may indicate to a UE a slot offset between a slotthat contains a PDCCH scheduling a PUSCH transmission and a slot thatcontains the scheduled PUSCH transmission (K₂);

(b) the BS may indicate to the UE the starting symbol of the PUSCHtransmission (S);

(c) the BS may indicate to the UE the length of a present PUSCHtransmission (L), where the length of the PUSCH transmission may berepresented by the number of symbols;

(d) the BS may indicate to the UE the number of the (nominal)repetitions for a present PUSCH transmission (e.g., how many times thisPUSCH transmission should be repeated by the UE);

(e) the UE may start performing a repeated PUSCH transmission (or thesecond PUSCH repetition) from the first upcoming UL symbol right afterthe end of a present PUSCH transmission (or the first PUSCH repetition)scheduled by the BS; and

(f) each PUSCH repetition may start from the first upcoming UL symbolafter the end of the previous PUSCH repetition.

In general, each PUSCH repetition may occupy L consecutive symbols.However, if the L consecutive symbol occasions corresponding to a PUSCHrepetition (or PUSCH transmission) cross a DL symbol or a slot boundary,the PUSCH repetition may be divided into two or more actual PUSCHtransmissions from the perspective of the Physical (PHY) layer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating repetitions of a PUSCH transmission (or“PUSCH repetition”) crossing a DL symbol or a slot boundary when thenon-slot-based repetition scheme is applied, in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. It is noted that thenon-slot-based repetition scheme illustrated with reference to FIG. 3 isfor illustrative purposes only, and is not intended to limit the scopeof the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, each of the slots (e.g., the slot 0 and theslot 1) may include 14 symbols (e.g., the symbol 0 to the symbol 13).Each symbol denoted by the letter “U” is a UL symbol, and each symboldenoted by the letter “D” is a DL symbol. In the implementationillustrated in FIG. 3, the values of S, L, and the number of PUSCHrepetitions configured by a BS (e.g., a gNB) are 3, 4 and 3,respectively.

It is noted that the number of PUSCH repetitions configured/signaled bya BS (e.g., a gNB) to a UE may be referred to as the number of nominalrepetitions, which may be different from the number of actual PUSCHtransmissions performed by the UE from the perspective of the PHY layer.As illustrated in FIG. 3, the UE may know that the UL resource scheduledby the BS on a PUSCH transmission 302 may span from the symbol 3 to thesymbol 6 in the slot 0 because the values of S and L are 3 and 4,respectively. In addition, because the number of nominal repetitions is3 in the implementation, the UE may need to repeat the PUSCHtransmission 302 (the first (nominal) PUSCH repetition) twice more atthe upcoming UL symbols. As described above, the value of L is 4, soeach nominal repetition may include four UL symbols. However, becausethe symbol 9 of the slot 0 is a DL symbol, the second (nominal) PUSCHrepetition may be divided into two actual PUSCH transmissions (or“actual PUSCH repetitions”). As illustrated in FIG. 3, the actual PUSCHrepetition 304 may span from the symbol 7 to the symbol 8 of the slot 0,and the actual PUSCH repetition 306 may span from the symbol 10 to thesymbol 11 of the slot 0. The two actual PUSCH repetitions 304 and 306may occupy four symbols in total, so they may be equivalent to thesecond (nominal) PUSCH repetition. Similarly, because the third(nominal) PUSCH repetition covers the slot boundary between the slot 0and the slot 1, the third (nominal) PUSCH repetition may be divided intotwo actual PUSCH repetitions 308 and 310, where the actual PUSCHrepetition 308 may span from the symbol 12 to the symbol 13 of the slot0, and the actual PUSCH repetition 310 may span from the symbol 0 to thesymbol 1 of the slot 1. Thus, in the implementation illustrated in FIG.3, the number of actual PUSCH repetitions (e.g., five) may be largerthan the number of nominal PUSCH repetitions (e.g., three).

In some implementations, the value of L may represent the total numberof UL symbols allocated for a PUSCH transmission. So, the total numberof UL symbols needed for one PUSCH/TB repetition may be restricted tothe value of L.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a repetition of a PUSCH transmissioncrossing a DL symbol when the non-slot-based repetition scheme isapplied, in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.In the implementation illustrated in FIG. 4, the DCI may contain afield/index indicating that the value of S is 3, the value of L is 4,and the number of nominal repetitions is 2 for a PUSCH transmission. Inthis case, the UL resource scheduled by the BS (e.g., the gNB) on thePUSCH may start at the symbol 3 of the slot 0. In addition, because thevalue of L is configured as 4 and the symbol 5 of slot 0 is a DL symbol,the UE may need to split the initial transmission of the PUSCH into twoactual PUSCH transmissions: the first actual PUSCH transmission 402spanning from the symbol 3 to the symbol 4 of the slot 0, and the secondactual PUSCH transmission 404 spanning from the symbol 6 to the symbol 7of the slot 0. Thus, the total occupancy of the UL symbols for theinitial transmission of the PUSCH (or the “first nominal repetition”) isstill 4.

In some implementations, a UE may be configured with a repetition list,and the field/index contained in the DCI may be a row/entry index of therepetition list (e.g., TDRA index). In some implementations, therepetition list may be included in a Time Domain Resource Allocation(TDRA) table. An example of the repetition list is shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Row index K₂ S L R 0 1 3 4 2 1 1 4 6 3 2 2 2 4 4

As shown in Table 1, a repetition list may include several entries (orrows). Each entry in the repetition list may be indexed by a row indexand include a set of parameters for configuring a PUSCH transmission,such as the parameters K₂, S, L and R, where each value of the parameterR in the repetition list may represent a specific number of PUSCHrepetitions, and the definitions of the parameters K₂, S and L aredescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In some implementations, a BS may indicate to a UE which entry in therepetition list to use via specific signaling (e.g., the DCI). The UEmay determine the resource location and/or the number of PUSCHrepetitions for a PUSCH transmission based on the value(s) in theindicated entry of the repetition list. For example, according to Table1, if a BS transmits DCI including a row index of “0” to a UE, the UEmay know that the first entry/row in the repetition list should beapplied when performing a PUSCH transmission scheduled by the DCI. Asshown in Table 1, the values of K₂, S, L and R in the first entry/row ofthe repetition list are “1,” “3,” “4” and “2,” respectively. In such acase, the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmissioncorresponding to the DCI is 2, as illustrated in FIG. 4.

It should be noted that the implementation in Table 1 is shown forillustrative purposes only, and is not meant to limit the scope of thepresent disclosure. For example, the repetition list may include anycombination of the parameter R and/or other parameters/indices. Inanother example, a repetition list may include only the value(s) of theparameter R (or “R value(s)”).

In some implementations, the repetition list (e.g., including one ormore R values) and the TDRA table may be separate tables, where each Rvalue in the repetition table may be associated with a set of parameters(e.g., S, L, and/or K₂) included in the TDRA table. For example, therepetition list may include several R values, e.g., “2”, “3” and “4”,where the R value “2” may be associated with the set of parameters K₂, Sand L (e.g., which are “1”, “3” and “4”, respectively) included in thefirst row/entry of the TDRA table, the R value “3” may be associatedwith the set of parameters K₂, S and L (e.g., which are “1”, “4” and“6”, respectively) included in the second row/entry of the TDRA table,and the R value “4” may be associated with the set of parameters K₂, Sand L (e.g., which are “2”, “2” and “4”, respectively) included in thethird row/entry of the TDRA table. In this case, the TDRA table may notinclude the R value(s). In addition, if the UE receives DCI containing aTDRA field that indicates a row/entry of the TDRA table, the set ofparameters included in the indicated row/entry of the TDRA table, aswell as the R value (in the repetition list) associated with theindicated row/entry of the TDRA table, may be applied by the UE for aPUSCH repetition scheme. For example, if the first row/entry of the TDRAtable is indicated by the TDRA field of the DCI, the UE may determinethat the values of K₂, S, L and R are “1”, “3”, “4” and “2”,respectively, when applying a PUSCH repetition scheme for a PUSCHtransmission.

Situation A: Discontinuous Reception (DRX) Operation UnderNon-Slot-Based Repetition Scheme

In some implementations, the Medium Access Control (MAC) entity of a UEmay be configured by a gNB (e.g., via the RRC layer) to perform a DRXprocedure that controls the PDCCH monitoring activity corresponding to aspecific Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) of the MAC entity.The specific RNTI may be a Cell-RNTI (C-RNTI), a ConfiguredScheduling-RNTI (CS-RNTI), an Interruption-RNTI (INT-RNTI), a SlotFormat Indication-RNTI (SFI-RNTI), a Semi Persistent-Channel StateInformation-RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI), a Transmit Power-PUCCH-RNTI(TPC-PUCCH-RNTI), a TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, or a Transmit Power-SoundingReference Signal-RNTI (TPC-SRS-RNTI). When a UE is in the RRC connectedstate (RRC_CONNECTED), and if the UE is configured with a DRX function,the MAC entity of the UE may monitor a PDCCH discontinuously in the timedomain during the DRX procedure. For example, the MAC entity mayperiodically monitor the control channel according to the configurationfrom the BS and the real traffic pattern, even if no data transmissionoccurs. In other words, the UE may monitor a PDCCH within apreconfigured period of time (e.g., the Active Time), even if no datatransmission occurs. However, if the data transmissions occur during theActive Time, the UE may remain in the active state to complete the datatransmission. During the Active Time, the UE may monitor the PDCCH forthe possible data transmission/reception indication(s). During the DRXprocedure, the UE may handle the PDCCH monitoring operation bymaintaining several timers in the UE's MAC layer. The timers mayinclude, for example, the on-duration timer, the DRX inactivity timer,the UL retransmission timer, the DL retransmission timer, UL Round TripTime (RTT) Timer, and the DL RTT Timer.

In some implementations, the lengths of the on-duration timer, the DRXinactivity timer, the UL retransmission timer, the DL retransmissiontimer, the UL RTT Timer, and the DL RTT timer may be preconfigured by aBS (e.g., gNB) via the parameters drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-Retransmi ssionTimerUL, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL,drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL and drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL, respectively.

In some implementations, the parameters such as the drx-onDurationTimer,the drx-Inactivity Timer, the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL, thedrx-RetransmissionTimerDL, the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL and thedrx-HARQ-RTT-TimerDL may be configured by the BS via a UE-specific DLRRC message.

When a UE is in the Active Time and the monitored PDCCH indicates a ULtransmission, the UL RTT timer may be started for the correspondingHybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process. The UL RTT timer may bemaintained by the MAC entity per a UL HARQ process basis. The UL RTTtimer may be used to calculate the minimum time duration before a ULHARQ retransmission grant expected by the MAC entity. The length of theUL RTT timer may be related to the gNB processing time/capacity.However, in the current communication system, how a UE (e.g., the UE'sMAC entity) handles the UL RTT timer under the non-slot-based repetitionscheme for a corresponding PUSCH transmission is still undefined (e.g.,the start timing of the UL RTT timer is undefined). In addition, sincethe corresponding MAC behavior is still undefined, the gain of the powersaving brought by the DRX function may be lost due to unpropersynchronization between the gNB and the UE.

As described above, a BS may indicate to a UE a UL resource on a PUSCHvia the DCI. For example, the DCI may contain a TDRA field/index (e.g.,a row/entry index of a TDRA table, as shown in Table 1) that indicatesthe time location and duration of a PUSCH transmission. In response toreceiving the DCI, the UE may perform the corresponding PUSCHtransmission by utilizing the UL resource. If the UE is configured toperform a PUSCH repetition scheme, the time domain of the UL resourceindicated by the TDRA field (e.g., the indicated symbol(s) and/orslot(s)) may be used as the UL resource for the first nominal repetitionof the PUSCH transmission. In the following Cases 1, 2 and 3, variousRTT timer operations of DRX under the PUSCH repetition scheme areprovided.

Case 1

In some implementations, the value of S+L may be larger than the totalnumber of symbols within a slot. Given that each of the slot contains 14symbols, in order to achieve the low latency requirement for the URLLCservice, a UL grant with the value of S+L larger than 14 may be applied.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a PUSCH transmission corresponding to aUL grant with the value of S+L larger than the number of symbols perslot (e.g., 14 symbols), in accordance with an implementation of thepresent disclosure.

The UE may receive the DCI from the gNB. The DCI may include a TDRAfield that indicates a UL resource for a PUSCH transmission. In someimplementations, the TDRA field may be a row index included in a TDRAtable (e.g., as shown in Table 1). In some implementations, the TDRAfield may be a row/entry index that indicates a row/entry included in aTDRA table, but the row/entry index may not be included in the TDRAtable (e.g., in a case of the column of “Row index” in Table 1 beingremoved). In this condition, the TDRA table may include the parameter(s)such as S, L, K₂ and/or R, except for the row index(s). The UE may knowwhich row/entry in the TDRA table is indicated by the TDRA field of theDCI according to a preconfigured mapping rule. For example, when thevalue of the TDRA field is “1”, the UE may know that the parameters(e.g., S, L, K₂ and/or R) included in the first row/entry in the TDRAtable are selected; when the value of the TDRA field is “2”, the UE mayknow that the parameters (e.g., S, L, K₂ and/or R) included in thesecond row/entry in the TDRA table are selected, and so on. In theimplementation illustrated in FIG. 5, the values of S and L addressed bythe TDRA field are 12 and 4, respectively. As illustrated in FIG. 5, theUL resource scheduled by the gNB on the PUSCH may span from the symbol12 of the slot 0 to the symbol 1 of the slot 1, which occupies fourconsecutive UL symbols. It is noted that the PUSCH transmission (or the“first nominal repetition”) corresponding to the UL grant crosses theslot boundary between the slot 0 and the slot 1. Thus, the first nominalrepetition may be divided into two actual PUSCH transmissions 502 and504. In addition, because the number of nominal repetitions isconfigured as 2 by the gNB through an indicator, the second nominalPUSCH transmission 506 may span from the symbol 2 of the slot 1 to thesymbol 5 of the slot 1 under the non-slot-based repetition scheme.

When the UE is configured with the DRX function (e.g., the UE isperforming the DRX procedure), the UL RTT timer may be started by theUE's MAC entity if the UE receives the UL grant. As described above, thestart timing of the UL RTT timer may be in the first symbol right afterthe end of the “first repetition” of the corresponding PUSCHtransmission. From the UL grant perspective, the first repetition of aPUSCH transmission may be the first nominal PUSCH transmission (e.g.,the PUSCH transmission from the symbol 12 of the slot 0 to the symbol 1of the slot 1 in FIG. 5). However, from the actual transmissionperspective, the first repetition of a PUSCH transmission may be thefirst actual PUSCH transmission (e.g., the actual PUSCH transmission502). Thus, the operation of a UL RTT timer may be affected due to thedifferent definitions of the “first repetition” of a PUSCH transmission.

From UL grant perspective: The UL resource for the first repetition ofthe corresponding PUSCH transmission may be dynamically granted by thegNB. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the UL resource indicated by the TDRA(the value of L is 4) may start from symbol 12 of the slot 0 to thesymbol 1 of the slot 1. From the UL grant perspective, the start timingof the UL RTT timer may be at the first symbol after the end of the ULresource granted for the first repetition of the corresponding PUSCHtransmission. That is, from the UL grant perspective, the UL RTT timermay start at the symbol 2 of the slot 1 (e.g., the Alt. a denoted inFIG. 5).

From actual transmission perspective: As illustrated in FIG. 5, thefirst nominal repetition of the PUSCH transmission is split into twoactual PUSCH repetitions 502 and 504 due to the slot boundary betweenthe slot 0 and slot 1. The first actual PUSCH repetition 502 may spanfrom the symbol 12 of the slot 0 to the symbol 13 of the slot 0. Thesecond actual PUSCH repetition 504 may span from the symbol 0 of theslot 1 to the symbol 1 of the slot 1. From the actual PUSCH transmissionperspective, the start timing of a UL RTT timer may be at the firstsymbol right after the end of the first actual PUSCH repetition. Thatis, the UL RTT timer may start at the symbol 0 of the slot 1 (e.g., theAlt. b denoted in FIG. 5).

Examples of the corresponding Text Proposals (TPs) are shown in Tables2, 3 and 4.

TABLE 2 5.7 Discontinuous Reception (DRX) When DRX is configured, theMAC entity shall: 1> if the MAC entity is in Active Time: 2> monitor thePDCCH as specified in 3GPP TS 38.213; 2> if the PDCCH indicates a ULtransmission: 3> start the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL for the correspondingHARQ process in the first symbol after the end of the first repetitionof the corresponding PUSCH transmission; 3> stop thedrx-RetransmissionTimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process. Note: Theexact timing of the first repetition is specified in the TS 38.214

TABLE 3 5.7 Discontinuous Reception (DRX) When DRX is configured, theMAC entity shall: 1> if the MAC entity is in Active Time: 2> monitor thePDCCH as specified in 3GPP TS 38.213: 2> if the PDCCH indicates a ULtransmission: 3> start the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerUL for the correspondingHARQ process in the first symbol after the end of the first repetitionof the corresponding PUSCH transmission indicated by the UL grant; 3>stop the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process.

TABLE 4 5.7 Discontinuous Reception (DRX) When DRX is configured, theMAC entity shall: 1> if the MAC entity is in Active Time: 2> monitor thePDCCH as specified in 3GPP TS 38.213; 2> if the PDCCH indicates a ULtransmission: 3> if the UL transmission is on a BWP (or serving cell)which configured with pusch-Aggregationfactor- urllc (as defined inSituation B); 3> if the UL transmission is indicated with a number ofnominal repetitions; or 3> if the UL transmission is corresponding to (abundle of) non-slot-based repetition; 4> start the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerULfor the corre- sponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the endof the first repetition of the correspond- ing PUSCH transmissionindicated by the UL grant; 4> stop the drx-RetransmissionTimerUL for thecorresponding HARQ process. 3>else; 4> start the drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerULfor the corre- sponding HARQ process in the first symbol after the endof the first repetition of the corresponding PUSCH transmission; 4> stopthe drx-RetransmissionTimerUL for the corresponding HARQ process.

In some implementations, a PUSCH transmission corresponding to a dynamicUL grant may cross at least one DL symbol and/or flexible symbol. Thismay also affect the operation of the UL RTT timer.

Referring to FIG. 4, the DCI may include a TDRA field that indicates aUL resource for a PUSCH transmission, where the values of S and Laddressed by the TDRA field are 3 and 4, respectively. In addition,through an indicator from the gNB, the number of nominal repetitions isconfigured as 2. The UL resource scheduled by the gNB on the PUSCH maystart at the symbol 3 of the slot 0 and occupy the following three ULsymbols (i.e., occupying four UL symbols in total). As illustrated inFIG. 4, because the first nominal repetition corresponding to the ULgrant crosses a DL symbol (i.e., the symbol 5 of the slot 0), the firstnominal repetition is split into two actual PUSCH repetitions 402 and404. In addition, the second nominal PUSCH transmission 406 may spanfrom the symbol 8 of the slot 0 to the symbol 11 of the slot 1.

As described above, if a UL RTT timer is configured to be started at thefirst symbol right after the end of the “first repetition” of a PUSCHtransmission, the start timing of the UL RTT timer may be differentbecause the definition of the “first repetition” may be different fromthe UL grant perspective and the actual transmission perspective. Forexample, from the UL grant perspective, the first repetition of a PUSCHtransmission may be the first nominal PUSCH transmission. From theactual transmission perspective, the first repetition of a PUSCHtransmission may be the first actual PUSCH transmission. Details of thecorresponding timer operations are described with reference to FIG. 4below.

From UL grant perspective: The UL resource for the first nominalrepetition of the corresponding PUSCH transmission may be dynamicallygranted by the gNB. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the UL resource indicatedby the TDRA (where the value of L is indicated as 4) may include thesymbols 3, 4, 6 and 7 of the slot 0. From the UL grant perspective, thestart timing of the UL RTT timer may be at the first symbol right afterthe end of the UL resource granted for the first nominal repetition ofthe corresponding PUSCH transmission. As illustrated in FIG. 4, in oneimplementation, the UL RTT timer may start at the symbol 8 of the slot 0(e.g., the timing denoted as “Alt. a” in FIG. 4).

From actual transmission perspective: As illustrated in FIG. 4, thefirst nominal repetition of the PUSCH transmission is split into twoactual PUSCH repetitions 402 and 404 due to the slot boundary betweenthe slot 0 and slot 1. The first actual PUSCH repetition 402 may spanfrom the symbol 3 of the slot 0 to the symbol 4 of the slot 0. Thesecond actual PUSCH repetition 404 may span from the symbol 6 of theslot 0 to the symbol 7 of the slot 0. From the actual transmissionperspective, the start timing of a UL RTT timer may be at the firstsymbol right after the end of the first actual PUSCH repetition. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, in one implementation, the UL RTT timer may startat the symbol 5 of the slot 0 (e.g., the timing denoted as “Alt. b” inFIG. 4).

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating repetitions of a PUSCH transmissioncrossing a flexible symbol when the non-slot-based repetition scheme isapplied, in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure.As illustrated in FIG. 6, the dynamic scheduling of a PUSCH transmission602 indicated by the DCI may cross a flexible symbol (which is denotedas “F” in FIG. 6). The flexible symbol may be dynamically configured asa DL symbol or a UL symbol via sfi-RNTI (as defined in the 3GPPTechnical Specification (TS) 38.213). The DCI may include the TDRA fieldthat indicates a UL resource for a PUSCH transmission, where the valuesof S and L addressed by the TDRA field are 3 and 4, respectively. Inaddition, through an indicator from the BS, the number of nominalrepetitions is configured as 2. If the flexible symbol is used as a ULsymbol, the first nominal PUSCH transmission 602 may span from thesymbol 3 of the slot 0 to the symbol 6 of the slot 0, and the secondnominal PUSCH 604 may span from the symbol 7 of the slot 0 to the symbol10 of the slot 0. In this case, the UL RTT timer may start at firstsymbol right after the end of the first nominal PUSCH transmission 602(e.g., the symbol 7 of the slot 0). If the flexible symbol is used as aDL symbol, the operation of the UL RTT timer may be the same as the casethat is described with reference to FIG. 4 (either from the UL grantperspective or the actual transmission perspective).

Situation B: Method of Dynamic Indication of Number of Repetitions ofPUSCH Transmission

In some implementations, under the non-slot-based repetition scheme, aDynamic Indication (DI) function that is able to let the gNB dynamicallyindicate to the UE the number of nominal repetitions for each dynamicscheduling (or let the gNB indicate to the UE the number of nominalrepetitions per a dynamic scheduling basis) may be provided. Inaddition, an Enable/Disable DI (EDDI) mechanism that is used to enableor disable the DI function may also be provided.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a UE switching between a dynamicindication mode and a non-dynamic indication mode, in accordance with animplementation of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 7, a UEmay operate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamicindication mode 704. When the DL function is enabled by the gNB, the UEmay operate in the dynamic indication mode 702, in which the BS (e.g.,the gNB) may indicate to the UE the number of nominal repetitions for aPUSCH transmission via the dynamical scheduling signaling (e.g., the DCIand/or MAC CE signaling). By contrast, when the DL function is disabled,the UE may operate in the non-dynamic indication mode 704, in which thenumber of nominal repetitions for a PUSCH transmission may be predefinedor preconfigured by the BS via the RRC signaling. Whether a UE shouldoperate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamic indicationmode 704 may be controlled by the EDDI mechanism. Examples of the UEbehavior when a UE operates in the dynamic indication mode 702 or thenon-dynamic indication mode 704 are described in following cases.

Case 1:

In some implementations, when a UE is in the dynamic indication mode,the number of nominal repetitions may be determined by an indicator fromthe gNB. For example, the indicator may be a DCI field that is containedin the DCI scheduling a UL grant corresponding to a PUSCH transmission.When the PUSCH transmission corresponding to the UL grant is configuredto be performed under the non-slot-based repetition scheme, the numberof nominal repetitions is determined by the indicator (e.g., the DCIfield) received from the gNB. Examples of the operations on how a UEdetermines the number of nominal repetitions based on the receivedindicator are provided in the following sub-cases 1.1 to 1.12.

Sub-case 1.1: In some implementations, the indicator may be thebit-streams (content) of the DCI field that represents a value thatexplicitly or implicitly indicates the number of nominal repetitions forthe PUSCH transmission corresponding to the UL grant scheduled by theDCI.

Sub-case 1.2: In some implementations, the indicator may be thebit-streams (content) of the DCI field that represents a value thatexplicitly or implicitly indicates a row index of a mapping table. Themapping table may be predefined (e.g., in the 3GPP TS) or preconfiguredby the gNB via a DL RRC message. The mapping table may define theassociation/mapping between the row index and the number of nominalrepetitions for a PUSCH transmission scheduled by the DCI.

Sub-case 1.3: In some implementations, the indicator may be thebit-streams (content) of the DCI field may represents a value thatexplicitly or implicitly indicates an element index of a repetition list(e.g., pusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList). Thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList may be either predefined (e.g., in the3GPP TS) or preconfigured by the gNB via a Downlink (DL) RRC message.The pusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList may contain one or more values(e.g., the R value(s) shown in Table 1) each indicating a specificnumber of nominal repetitions for a PUSCH transmission scheduled by theDCI. The value of the element index may indicate which of the (R) valuesin the repetition list should be applied by the UE for the PUSCHtransmission. For example, when the value of the element index is 0, thevalues/parameters in the first element/row/entry of thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList may be selected/applied by the UE;when the value of the element index is 1, the values/parameters in thesecond element/row/entry of the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList may beapplied/selected by the UE, and so on. In some implementations, therepetition list (e.g., the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList) may beconfigured by a BS per at least one of a UE basis, a serving cell groupbasis, a serving cell basis, a UL BWP basis, and a configured grantconfiguration basis.

Sub-case 1.4: In some implementations, the indicator may be thebit-streams (content) of the DCI field that represents a value thatexplicitly or implicitly indicates a coefficient or a parameter. In thiscase, the number of nominal repetitions for the PUSCH transmissioncorresponding to the UL grant scheduled by the DCI may be (or obtainedby) the result of multiplying the value of the coefficient by the valueof the PUSCH aggregation factor (e.g., pusch-AggregationFactor) or thevalue of the URLLC PUSCH aggregation factor (e.g.,pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc). The pusch-AggregationFactor may be anexisting parameter provided in the 3GPP TS 38.331, while thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllc may be a newly-introduced parameterconfigured by the gNB to indicate to a UE the number of nominalrepetitions. In some implementations, the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllcmay be transmitted by a gNB via a DL RRC message. Thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllc may be configured by a gNB per at leastone of a UE basis, a serving cell group basis, a serving cell basis, aUL BWP basis, and a configured grant configuration basis. For example,in a case that the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc is configured by thegNB per a UL BWP basis and the gNB schedules a PUSCH on a UL BWP, the UEmay apply the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc corresponding to the UL BWPto determine the number of nominal repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission on the UL BWP if the gNB indicates that the PUSCHtransmission should apply the non-slot-based repetition scheme.

Sub-case 1.5: The main difference between Sub-case 1.5 and 1.4 is thatthe number of nominal repetitions for the PUSCH transmission scheduledby the DCI may be (or obtained by) the result of adding the value of thecoefficient and the value of the pusch-AggregationFactor (or the valueof the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc).

Sub-case 1.6: The main difference between Sub-case 1.6 and 1.4 is thatthe number of nominal repetitions for the PUSCH transmissioncorresponding scheduled by the DCI may be (or obtained by) the result ofdividing the value of the coefficient by the value of the coefficientand the value of the pusch-AggregationFactor (or the value of thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllc). In some other implementations, thenumber of nominal repetitions for the PUSCH transmission may be (orobtained by) the result of dividing the value of thepusch-AggregationFactor (or the value of thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllc) by the value of the coefficient.

Sub-case 1.7: In some implementations, the indicator may be a DCI field(e.g., a zero-bit field) included in the DCI, if the DCI is used toschedule a PUSCH on a specific serving cell group/serving cell/UL BWP.In this case, the DCI field may be only applied to a PUSCH transmissionon certain specific serving cell group(s)/serving cell(s)/UL BWP(s).

Sub-case 1.8: In some implementations, the indicator (e.g., the DCIfield) may only exist in the DCI with CRC bits scrambled by a specifictype of a UE-specific RNTI. In another implementation, the indicator(e.g., the DCI field) may be applied by the UE only when the indicatoris in the DCI with CRC bits scrambled by a specific type of(UE-specific) RNTI.

Sub-case 1.9: In some implementations, the mapping table and thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList described in the above sub-cases maybe configured per a serving cell group/serving cell/UL BWP basis. Inthis case, the number of nominal repetitions of a PUSCH transmission ona serving cell group/serving cell/UL BWP may be determined by themapping table or the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList corresponding tothe serving cell group/the serving cell/the UL BWP. In another example,the PUSCH transmission scheduled by the DCI received on a serving cellgroup/serving cell/UL BWP may apply the mapping table or theAggregationFactor-urllcList of the serving cell group/serving cell/ULBWP.

Sub-case 1.10: In some implementations, the number of bits of the DCIfield contained in the DCI may be determined by an RRC configuration.For example, the DCI field may be determined by the number of elementsincluded in the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList. For example, the DCIfield may be determined as [log₂ (the number of elements of thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllcList)].

Sub-case 1.11: In some implementations, the DCI field may be contained(only) in the DCI with the CRC bits scrambled by the CS-RNTI that isapplied by the gNB to activate a configured grant type II configuration(e.g., which is provided in the 3GPP TS 38.331).

Sub-case 1.12: In some implementations, the DCI field may be contained(only) in an Information Element (IE) of a configured grantconfiguration (e.g., the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE) that is applied bythe gNB to activate a configured grant type I configuration (e.g., whichis provided in the 3GPP TS 38.331).

Case 2:

In some implementations, when a UE is in the dynamic indication mode702, the gNB may indicate to the UE to switch to the non-dynamicindication mode 704 (e.g., as denoted as the path b in FIG. 7) viaspecific indication(s). Examples of the indications are described in thefollowing sub-cases.

Sub-case 2.1: In some implementations, a BS (e.g., a gNB) may indicateto a UE whether to operate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or thenon-dynamic indication mode 704 by transmitting DCI to the UE. In someimplementations, the DCI may have a specific DCI format. For example,after receiving/detecting the specific DCI format, the UE may operate inthe dynamic indication mode 702. By contrast, if another DCI format isreceived/detected by the UE, the UE may operate in the non-dynamicindication mode 704.

Sub-case 2.2: In some implementations, a BS (e.g., a gNB) may apply aDCI field (indication) contained in the DCI to indicate to a UE whetherto operate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamicindication mode 704. In an implementation, the DCI field may be aone-bit field. For example, if the content of the DCI field is “0,” theUE may operate in the dynamic indication mode 702. By contrast, if thecontent of the DCI field is “1,” the UE may operate in the non-dynamicindication mode 704.

Sub-case 2.3: The main difference between Sub-case 2.3 and Sub-case 2.2is that whether a UE should operate in the dynamic indication mode 702or the non-dynamic indication mode 704 may be indicated by the specificvalue of the DCI field introduced in Case 1 of Situation 2. For example,when the content/value of the DCI field is set to a first value by thegNB, the UE may switch to the non-dynamic indication mode 704 (e.g., asdenoted as the path b in FIG. 7); when the content/value of the DCIfield is set to a second value by the gNB, the UE may switch from thenon-dynamic indication mode 704 to the dynamic indication mode 702(e.g., as denoted as the path a in FIG. 7).

Sub-case 2.4: In some implementations, the gNB may indicate to a UEwhether the UE should operate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or thenon-dynamic indication mode 704 via a MAC Control Element (CE). Forexample, one or more fields contained in the MAC CE may be used toindicate to a UE whether to operate in the dynamic indication mode 702or the non-dynamic indication mode 704 for each serving cellgroup/serving cell/BWP/UL BWP/PUSCH. In some implementations, the UE mayoperate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamic indicationmode 704 by default to perform a PUSCH transmission on each serving cellgroup/serving cell/UL BWP. For example, after being configured with aserving cell group and before receiving a MAC CE corresponding to theserving cell group, a UE may perform the PUSCH transmission on theserving cell group in either the dynamic indication mode 702 or thenon-dynamic indication mode 704 by default. For example, after beingconfigured with a serving cell and before receiving a MAC CEcorresponding to the serving cell, a UE may perform the PUSCHtransmission on the serving cell group in either the dynamic indicationmode 702 or the non-dynamic indication mode 704 by default. For example,after being configured with a UL BWP and before receiving a MAC CEcorresponding to the UL BWP, a UE may perform the PUSCH transmission onthe UL BWP in the dynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamicindication mode 704 by default.

Sub-case 2.5: The main difference between Sub-case 2.4 and Sub-case 2.3is that the gNB may indicate to the UE to operate in the dynamicindication mode 702 via a first MAC CE and indicate to the UE to operatein the non-dynamic indication mode 704 via a second MAC CE. One or morefields contained in the first/second MAC CE may be used to indicate tothe UE whether to operate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or thenon-dynamic indication mode 704 for each serving cell group/servingcell/BWP/UL BWP/PUSCH.

Sub-case 2.6: In some implementations, the gNB may indicate to a UEwhether to operate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamicindication mode 704 via a specific RNTI. The specific RNTI may beconfigured by the gNB per a serving cell group/serving cell/UL BWP basisvia the DL RRC message(s). For example, when receiving the DCI with theCRC bits scrambled by the specific RNTI, the UE may perform the PUSCHtransmission on the serving cell group/serving cell/UL BWP in thedynamic indication mode 702 until the UE receives the DCI with the CRCbits scrambled by the specific RNTI again. In some implementations, theUE may operate in the dynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamicindication mode 704 by default to perform a PUSCH transmission on eachserving cell group/serving cell/UL BWP. For example, after beingconfigured with a serving cell group and before receiving the DCI withCRC bits scrambled by the specific RNTI corresponding to the servingcell group, a UE may perform the PUSCH transmission on the serving cellgroup in either the dynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamicindication mode 704 by default. For example, after being configured withand activating a serving cell and before receiving the DCI with CRC bitsscrambled by the specific RNTI corresponding to the serving cell, a UEmay perform the PUSCH transmission on the serving cell in either thedynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamic indication mode 704 bydefault. For example, after being configured with and activating a ULBWP and before receiving the DCI with CRC bits scrambled by the specificRNTI corresponding to the UL BWP, a UE may perform the PUSCHtransmission on the serving cell in either the dynamic indication mode702 or the non-dynamic indication mode 704 by default.

Sub-case 2.7: The main difference between Sub-case 2.6 and Sub-case 2.7is that the gNB may indicate to the UE to operate in the dynamicindication mode 702 via a specific RNTI and indicate to the UE tooperate in the non-dynamic indication mode 704 via another specificRNTI.

Sub-case 2.8: In some implementations, a default mode (e.g., the dynamicindication mode 702 or the non-dynamic indication mode 704) of a servingcell group/serving cell/UL BWP may be configured by the gNB via the DLRRC message(s). For example, before receiving the corresponding MAC CEor DCI, the UE may perform the PUSCH transmission on the serving cellgroup/serving cell/UL BWP in the default mode.

Sub-case 2.9: In some implementations, a UE may be configured with atimer. When receiving an indication (e.g., a MAC CE or the DCI or anRNTI) that indicates to the UE to switch to an operation mode (e.g., thedynamic indication mode 702 or the non-dynamic indication mode 704) thatis different from the default mode, the UE may start the timer. When thetimer expires, the UE may switch from the operation mode to the defaultmode automatically without receiving further indication from the gNB. Insome implementations, the UE may restart the timer when receiving a(specific) UL grant. In some implementations, the timer may bemaintained/configured per a serving cell group/serving cell/UL BWPbasis. The length of the timer may be preconfigured by the gNB via a DLRRC message.

Case 3:

FIG. 8 illustrates a flowchart of a procedure performed by a UE, inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 8, in action 802, a UE may operate in the dynamicindication mode. In action 804, the UE may receive an indication toswitch to the non-dynamic indication mode. In action 806, the UE mayperform a specific operation in response to receiving the indication.Examples of the specific operation are described in the followingsub-case(s).

Sub-case 3.1: In some implementations, the DCI may contain a first DCIfield that indicates to the UE to operate in the dynamic indicationmode. In this case, the number of nominal repetitions of a PUSCHtransmission may be indicated by a second DCI field such as an existingDCI field (e.g., which is provided in the current 3GPP TS 38.212). Forexample, when an existing DCI field is used as the second DCI field, thecontent of the existing DCI field may be changed to indicate to the UEthe number of nominal repetitions for the PUSCH transmissioncorresponding to the UL grant scheduled by the DCI. In addition, detailsof how the existing DCI field indicates to the UE to the number ofnominal repetitions may be implemented based on the implementation(s)described in Case 1 of Situation B. On the other hand, if the first DCIfield indicates to the UE to operate in the non-dynamic indication mode,the second DCI field may remain the same as how it is defined in the3GPP TS 38.212. In some implementations, the first and second DCI fieldsmay be contained in the DCI that schedules the UL grant. In this case,if the UE is configured to perform a PUSCH transmission corresponding tothe UL grant based on the non-slot-based repetition scheme, the numberof nominal repetitions for the PUSCH transmission may be determined bythe first DCI field and the second DCI field received from the gNB. Forexample, the first DCI field may (implicitly) indicate whether the PUSCHtransmission should be performed based on a PUSCH repetition scheme, andthe second DCI field may explicitly indicate a row/entry in a TDRA table(e.g., via a row/entry index for the TDRA table).

Sub-case 3.2: In some implementations, when operating in the non-dynamicindication mode, a UE may fallback to apply the slot-based repetitionscheme to perform a PUSCH transmission. The number of PUSCH repetitionsfor the PUSCH transmission may be, for example, configured by thepusch-Aggregationfactor as defined in the 3GPP TS 38.331.

Sub-case 3.3: In some implementations, when operating in the non-dynamicindication mode, a UE may apply the non-slot-based repetition scheme toperform a PUSCH transmission. The number of nominal repetitions for thePUSCH transmission may be, for example, a fixed value configured by thepusch-Aggregationfactor-urllc.

Case 4: In some implementations, the number of nominal repetitions maybe implicitly indicated by a TDRA index (e.g., a row/entry index thatindicates a row/entry included in a TDRA table). One or morenon-slot-based repetition scheme-specific TDRA tables at the UE may bepre-configured by the gNB or predefined in the 3GPP TS. For example, asshown in Table 1, each row/entry in the TDRA table may define themapping/association between a specific number of nominal repetitions(e.g., the R value) and a set of parameters, including at least one ofK₂, S and L, for configuring a PUSCH transmission. In someimplementations, the TDRA tables configured in the UE may be applied tothe Cyclic Prefix (CP) modes (e.g., the normal CP or the extended CP)different from each other. Once a TDRA value (e.g., a row/entry index ofthe TDRA table) is received, the UE may determine the R value and theset of parameters (e.g., the values of K₂, L and/or S) to be applied toa PUSCH transmission according to the corresponding TDRA table. In someimplementations, a UE may be configured with at least one first TDRAtable configured for the non-slot-based repetition scheme and at leastone second TDRA table configured for the slot-based repetition scheme.In some other implementations, a UE may be configured with at least onefirst TDRA table configured for the dynamic indication mode and at leastone second TDRA table configured for the non-dynamic indication mode.

Sub-case 4.1: In some other implementations, a TDRA table may includeone or more indicators, each of which may not directly represent thenumber of nominal repetitions for a PUSCH transmission. Instead, eachindicator may be associated with (or indicate) the number of nominalrepetitions. In this case, a UE may determine the number of nominalrepetitions based on the indicator(s). For example, a UE may determinethat the number of nominal repetitions is “2” when the value of theindicator is “1” and determine that the number of nominal repetitions is“4” when the value of the indicator is “2” based on certainpredefined/preconfigured mapping rules.

Case 5:

In some implementations, a gNB may configure a parameterpusch-AggregationFactor-urllc for a specific UL BWP(s) and configureanother parameter pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc for a serving cell. Inthis case, the UE may know that the PUSCH transmission on the specificUL BWP (which is configured with the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc)should be performed based on the non-slot-based repetition scheme bysetting the number of nominal repetitions as the value of thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllc configured for the specific UL BWP. Bycontrast, if the PUSCH transmission is on a UL BWP which is notconfigured with the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc, the UE may performthe PUSCH transmission under the non-slot-based repetition scheme bysetting the number of nominal repetitions as the value of thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllc configured for the serving cell of the ULBWP.

Sub-case 5.1: In some implementations, similar to Case 5, a gNB mayconfigure a parameter pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc for a specificserving cell(s) and configure another parameterpusch-AggregationFactor-urllc for a serving cell group. In this case,the UE may know that the PUSCH transmission on the serving cell (whichis configured with the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc) should beperformed based on the non-slot-based repetition scheme by setting thenumber of nominal repetitions as the value of thepusch-AggregationFactor-urllc configured for the specific serving cell.By contrast, if the PUSCH transmission is on a serving cell which is notconfigured with the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc, the UE may performthe PUSCH transmission under the non-slot-based repetition scheme bysetting the number of nominal repetitions for the PUSCH transmission asthe value of the pusch-AggregationFactor-urllc configured for theserving cell group of the serving cell.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of a procedure performed by a UE, inaccordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. It shouldbe noted that although actions 902, 904, 906, 908, 910 and 912 aredelineated as separate actions represented as independent blocks in FIG.9, these separately delineated actions should not be construed asnecessarily order dependent. The order in which the actions areperformed in FIG. 9 is not intended to be construed as a limitation, andany number of the described blocks may be combined in any order toimplement the method, or an alternate method. Moreover, one or more ofactions 902, 904, 906, 908, 910 and 912 may be omitted in someimplementations of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, in action 902, a UE may receive an RRCconfiguration including a first parameter configured with a first valueand a second parameter configured with at least one second value. Thefirst value and each of the second value(s) each indicating a number ofPUSCH repetitions. In some implementations, the first parameter and thesecond parameter may correspond to different Information Elements (IEs)in the RRC configuration, where the first parameter may be directed to asingle first value, and the second parameter may be directed to (or maybe) a repetition list including one or more second values (e.g., the Rvalue(s) illustrated in Table 1). In some implementations, the firstparameter and the second parameter may be configured per a serving cellgroup/serving cell/BWP basis.

In action 904, the UE may receive DCI on a PDCCH scheduling a PUSCHtransmission.

In action 906, the UE may select, according to the DCI, the firstparameter or the second parameter to determine the number of PUSCHrepetitions for the PUSCH transmission. In some implementations, the UEmay select the first parameter or the second parameter based on the DCIfield/DCI format of the received DCI. For example, because each DCIformat may have its own corresponding DCI fields, when performing blinddecoding, the UE may determine the DCI format of the DCI by checkingwhether the DCI can be decoded successfully with a set of DCI fields. Inthis case, when the DCI has a DCI format associated with the secondparameter and includes an index indicating one of the second value(s), aUE may select the second parameter to determine the number of PUSCHrepetitions for the PUSCH transmission. In some implementations, thesecond parameter (e.g., a repetition list) may define an associationbetween the index (e.g., a row/entry index of the repetition list) and aset of values including a third value (e.g., the value of S) indicatinga starting symbol of the PUSCH transmission and a fourth value (e.g.,the value of L) indicating a number of consecutive symbols of the PUSCHtransmission.

In action 908, when the first parameter is selected, the UE maydetermine the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission asthe first value. For example, if the first parameter is configured witha first value of “2,” the UE may determine that the number of PUSCHrepetitions for the PUSCH transmission is 2. In another example, thefirst value may not directly represent the number of PUSCH repetitionsfor the PUSCH transmission, but may have a preconfigured/predefinedmapping relationship with the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission (e.g., the first value may be used as an index of thenumber of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission). In this case,the UE may determine the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission based on the first value and the preconfigured/predefinedmapping relationship.

In action 910, when the second parameter is selected, the UE maydetermine the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission asone of the at least one second value indicated by the DCI. For example,if the second parameter is configured with several second values such as“2,” “3” and “4,” and one of the second values (e.g., “3”) is indicatedby the DCI (e.g., by the DCI field contained in the DCI), the UE maydetermine that the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission is 3. In another example, the second value may not directrepresent the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission,but may have a preconfigured/predefined mapping relationship with thenumber of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission (e.g., the secondvalue may be used as an index of the number of PUSCH repetitions for thePUSCH transmission). In this case, the UE may determine the number ofPUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission based on the second valueand the preconfigured/predefined mapping relationship.

In action 912, the UE may perform the PUSCH transmission for a number oftimes (e.g., the UE may repeat the PUSCH transmission among a set ofconsecutive UL symbols) based on the number of PUSCH repetitions for thePUSCH transmission (e.g., the number of times the PUSCH transmission isperformed may be determined by (or equal to) the number of PUSCHrepetitions for the PUSCH transmission). For example, if the secondparameter is selected and the indicated second value included in thesecond parameter (e.g., the repetition list) is “4,” the UE maydetermine that the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission scheduled by the DCI is 4 (if the second value directlyrepresent the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission).In this case, the UE may perform an initial transmission of thescheduled PUSCH/TB, followed by repeating the initial transmission ofthe scheduled PUSCH/TB three times. So, the total number of performingthe PUSCH/TB transmission by the UE is 4 (i.e., one initial PUSCH/TBtransmission (or the “first PUSCH/TB repetition”)+three repeatedPUSCH/TB transmissions (or the “second, third and fourth PUSCH/TBrepetitions”)).

In some implementations, each (sub-)case described above may be appliedwhen one or more specific conditions are satisfied. For example, thespecific conditions may include:

(a) the UE is configured with a specific Access Stratum (AS) layerfunction (e.g., a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) duplicationfunction);

(b) the UE is configured with a specific AS layer function (e.g., a PDCPduplication function), and the specific AS layer function is activated;and

(c) the UE is configured with an RRC connection with two or moregNBs/eNBs.

The following provides the non-limiting descriptions of certain terms.

Cell: in some implementations, a cell (e.g., a PCell or an SCell) may bea radio network object that may be uniquely identified by a UE throughthe corresponding identification information, which may be broadcast bya UTRAN access point in a geographical area. A cell may be operated in aFrequency Division Duplex (FDD) or a Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode.

Serving Cell: in some implementations, for a UE operating in theRRC_CONNECTED state and not configured with Carrier Aggregation(CA)/Dual Connectivity (DC), the UE may be configured with only oneserving cell (e.g., a PCell). For a UE operating in the RRC_CONNECTEDstate and configured with CA/DC, the UE may be configured with multipleserving cells including an SpCell and one or more SCells.

CA: in some implementations, in case of CA, two or more ComponentCarriers (CCs) may be aggregated. A UE may simultaneously receive ortransmit signals on one or more of the CCs depending on itscapabilities. CA may be supported with both the contiguous andnon-contiguous CCs. When CA is applied, the frame timing and the SystemFrame Number (SFN) may be aligned across cells that are aggregated. Insome implementations, the maximum number of configured CCs for a UE maybe 16 for DL and 16 for UL. When CA is configured, the UE may have onlyone RRC connection with the network. During the RRC connectionestablishment/re-establishment/handover, one serving cell may providethe Non-Access Stratum (NAS) mobility information, and at RRC connectionre-establishment/handover, one serving cell may provide the securityinput, where the serving cell may be referred to as the PCell. Dependingon UE capabilities, SCells may be configured to form together with thePCell as a set of serving cells for the UE. The configured set ofserving cells for a UE therefore always consists of one PCell and one ormore SCells.

Configured Grant: in some implementations, for configured grant type 1,the RRC entity may directly provide the configured uplink grant(including the periodicity). For configured grant type 2, the RRC entitymay define the periodicity of the PUSCH resources of the CG, while thePDCCH addressed to the Configured Scheduling-RNTI (CS-RNTI) may eithersignal and activate the configured uplink grant or deactivate it. Thatis, the PDCCH addressed to the CS-RNTI may indicate that the configureduplink grant can be reused according to the periodicity defined by theRRC entity, until the configured unlink grant is deactivated. When aconfigured uplink grant is active, a UL transmission according to theconfigured uplink grant may be performed if the UE cannot find itsC-RNTI/CS-RNTI/MCS-C-RNTI on the PDCCH(s). If the UE receives itsC-RNTI/CS-RNTI/MCS-C-RNTI on the PDCCH(s), the PDCCH allocation mayoverride the configured uplink grant. In some implementations, the usageof MCS-C-RNTI may be equivalent to that of C-RNTI in the MAC procedures(except for the C-RNTI MAC CE).

HARQ: in some implementations, a HARQ process may be used to ensure thetransmissions between two or more peer entities at Layer 1 (e.g., PHYlayer). A single HARQ process may support a TB when the PHY layer is notconfigured for DL/UL spatial multiplexing. When the PHY layer isconfigured for the DL/UL spatial multiplexing, a single HARQ process maysupport one or multiple TBs. Each serving cell may correspond to a HARQentity, where each HARQ entity may support a parallel processing of theDL and UL HARQ processes.

HARQ-Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK): in some implementations, a HARQ-ACK mayinclude a 1-bit indicator, where the HARQ-ACK may be a NegativeAcknowledgement (NACK) when the bit value of the indicator is “0” andmay be a positive Acknowledgement (ACK) when the bit value of theindicator is “1.”

Timer: in some implementations, the MAC entity of the UE may setup oneor more timers for individual purposes, such as triggering uplinksignaling retransmissions or limiting uplink signaling retransmissionperiods. When a timer (e.g., the timers described in variousimplementations of the present application) maintained by the MAC entitystarts, the timer may start running until it stops or expires. Inaddition, the timer may not run when it does not start. A timer maystart when it is not running. Also, a timer may restart when it isrunning. In some implementations, a timer may always start or restartfrom an initial value, where the initial value can be, but is notlimited to, configured by the gNB via downlink RRC signaling.

BWP: in some implementations, a BWP may be a subset of the total cellbandwidth of a cell. By configuring one or more BWPs to the UE andinforming the UE that which of the configured BWPs is the currently theactive BWP, Bandwidth Adaptation (BA) may be achieved. To enable the BAmechanism on the PCell, the gNB may configure the UE with one or more ULand DL BWPs. In case of CA, to enable the BA mechanism on SCells, thegNB may configure the UE with one or more DL BWPs at least (which meansthat there may be no UL BWPs configure to the UE). For the PCell, theinitial BWP may be the BWP used for initial access. For the SCell(s),the initial BWP may be the BWP configured for the UE to first operateduring the SCell activation process. In some implementations, the UE maybe configured with a First-Active UL BWP by a firstActiveUplinkBWP IEfield. If the First-Active UL BWP is configured for an SpCell, thefirstActiveUplinkBWP IE field may contain the ID of the UL BWP to beactivated when the RRC (re)configuration is performed. If the field isabsent, the RRC (re)configuration may not trigger a BWP switch. If theFirst-Active uplink BWP is configured for an SCell, thefirstActiveUplinkBWP IE field may contain the ID of the UL BWP to beused upon the MAC-activation of an SCell.

PDCCH: in some implementations, a gNB may dynamically allocate resourcesto the UE via a C-RNTI/MCS-C-RNTI/CS-RNTI on one or more PDCCHs. The UEmay always monitor the PDCCH(s) in order to find possible assignmentswhen its DL reception is enabled (e.g., activity governed by DRX whenconfigured). In some implementations, when CA is configured, the sameC-RNTI may be applied to all serving cells.

Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)/PUSCH: in some implementations,a PDCCH may be used to schedule DL transmissions on a PDSCH and ULtransmissions on a PUSCH.

Time Alignment Timer: in some implementations, the RRC entity mayconfigure the initial value of a time alignment timer. The timealignment timer (e.g., timeAlignmentTimer) may be used for themaintenance of UL time alignment, where the time alignment timer may beconfigured and maintained per a Timing Advance Group (TAG) basis. Thetime alignment timer may be used to control the time length that the MACentity considers the serving cells belonging to the associated TAG to beUL time aligned.

Start and Length Indicator (SLIV): in some implementations, the SLIV maybe used for the time domain allocation for a PUSCHIPDSCH. The SLIV maydefine the starting symbol and the number of consecutive symbols for aPUSCHIPDSCH allocation.

TB: The data from the upper layer (e.g., MAC layer/entity) to the PHYlayer may be usually referred to as a TB(s).

It is noted that the terms, definitions and abbreviations described inthe present disclosure may come from the existing documentation(European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU), and etc.) or newly created by the 3GPPexperts.

In some implementations, a Reference Signal (RS) ID may be replaced byany other ID(s) which is used for explicitly or implicitly indicating anew beam to the gNB.

In some implementations, a DL RRC message may be an RRC reconfigurationmessage (e.g., RRCReconfiguration), an RRC resume message (e.g.,RRCResume), an RRC reestablishment message (e.g., RRCReestablishment),an RRC setup message (e.g., RRCSetup), or any other DL unicast RRCmessage.

In some implementations, a beam may be considered as a spatial domainfilter. For example, a wireless device (e.g., a UE) may apply thespatial filter in an analog domain by adjusting the phase and/oramplitude of a signal before transmitting the signal through acorresponding antenna element. In another example, the spatial filtermay be applied in a digital domain by Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO)techniques in the wireless communication system. For example, a UE mayperform a PUSCH transmission by using a specific beam which is aspecific spatial/digital domain filter. In some implementations, a beammay be represented by (or corresponding to) an antenna, an antenna port,an antenna element, a group of antennas, a group of antenna ports, or agroup of antenna elements. In some implementations, a beam may be formedby (or associated with) a specific RS resource. The beam may beequivalent to a spatial domain filter through which the Electromagnetic(EM) waves are radiated.

In some implementations, the transmitted signaling means that the MACCE/MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU)/layer 1 signaling/higher layer signalingthat contains (or corresponds to) the signaling is starting to betransmitted, completely transmitted, or has already delivered to thecorresponding HARQ process/buffer for transmission. In someimplementations, the transmitted signaling means that the correspondingHARQ-ACK feedback of a specific MAC PDU is received, where the specificMAC PUD may include the MAC CE/layer 1 signaling/higher layer signalingthat contains (or corresponds to) the signaling. In someimplementations, the transmitted signaling means that the MAC CE/MAC PDUcorresponding to the signaling is built or generated.

In some implementations, a HARQ-ACK feedback may be implemented by theDCI format 0_0, 0_1 or other DCI format(s) of the DCI received by the UEfrom the gNB on a PDCCH. In some implementations, the received DCI maycontain a New Data Indicator (NDI) that may be set to a specific value(e.g., 1). In addition, the DCI may indicate a HARQ process ID which isthe same as the HARQ process ID applied by (or indicated to) a HARQprocess of the MAC PDU (carrying the Beam Failure Recovery request(BFRQ) MAC CE) transmission.

In some implementations, a PDCCH may be transmitted by the gNB to theUE, and the UE may receive the PDCCH from the gNB. Similarly, a PDSCHmay be transmitted by the gNB to the UE, and the UE may receive thePDSCH from the gNB. For UL transmissions, a PUSCH/PUCCH may betransmitted by the UE to the gNB, and the PUSCH/Physical Uplink ControlChannel (PUCCH) may be received by the gNB.

In some implementations, a PDSCH/PUSCH transmission may span multiplesymbols in the time domain, where the time duration of a PDSCH/PUSCH(transmission) may be a time interval that starts from the beginning ofthe first symbol of the PDSCH/PUSCH (transmission) and end at the end ofthe last symbol of the PDSCH/PUSCH (transmission).

In some implementations, the terms “interrupt,” “stop,” “cancel,” and“skip” may be interchangeable.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of a node for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 10, a node 1000 may include atransceiver 1006, a processor 1008, a memory 1002, one or morepresentation components 1004, and at least one antenna 1010. The node1000 may also include an RF spectrum band module, a BS communicationsmodule, a network communications module, and a system communicationsmanagement module, Input/Output (I/O) ports, I/O components, and powersupply (not explicitly illustrated in FIG. 10). Each of these componentsmay be in communication with each other, directly or indirectly, overone or more buses 1024. In one implementation, the node 1000 may be a UEor a BS that performs various functions described herein, for example,with reference to FIGS. 1 through 9.

The transceiver 1006 having a transmitter 1016 (e.g.,transmitting/transmission circuitry) and a receiver 1018 (e.g.,receiving/reception circuitry) may be configured to transmit and/orreceive time and/or frequency resource partitioning information. In someimplementations, the transceiver 1006 may be configured to transmit indifferent types of subframes and slots including, but not limited to,usable, non-usable and flexibly usable subframes and slot formats. Thetransceiver 1006 may be configured to receive data and control channels.

The node 1000 may include a variety of computer-readable media.Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessedby the node 1000 and include both volatile (and non-volatile) media andremovable (and non-removable) media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer-readable media may include computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media may include bothvolatile (and non-volatile) and removable (and non-removable) mediaimplemented according to any method or technology for storage ofinformation such as computer-readable.

Computer storage media includes RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory (or othermemory technology), CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVD) (or otheroptical disk storage), magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage (or other magnetic storage devices), etc. Computer storage mediadoes not include a propagated data signal. Communication media maytypically embody computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as acarrier wave or other transport mechanism and include any informationdelivery media. The term “modulated data signal” may mean a signal thathas one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manneras to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and notlimitation, communication media may include wired media such as a wirednetwork or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic,Radio Frequency (RF), infrared and other wireless media. Combinations ofany of the above should also be included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

The memory 1002 may include computer-storage media in the form ofvolatile and/or non-volatile memory. The memory 1002 may be removable,non-removable, or a combination thereof. For example, the memory 1002may include solid-state memory, hard drives, optical-disc drives, etc.As illustrated in FIG. 10, the memory 1002 may store computer-readableand/or -executable instructions 1014 (e.g., software codes) that areconfigured to, when executed, cause the processor 1008 to performvarious functions described herein, for example, with reference to FIGS.1 through 9. Alternatively, the instructions 1014 may not be directlyexecutable by the processor 1008 but may be configured to cause the node1000 (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform various functionsdescribed herein.

The processor 1008 (e.g., having processing circuitry) may include anintelligent hardware device, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), amicrocontroller, an ASIC, etc. The processor 1008 may include memory.The processor 1008 may process the data 1012 and the instructions 1014received from the memory 1002, and information through the transceiver1006, the base band communications module, and/or the networkcommunications module. The processor 1008 may also process informationto be sent to the transceiver 1006 for transmission through the antenna1010, to the network communications module for transmission to a corenetwork.

One or more presentation components 1004 may present data indications toa person or other device. Examples of presentation components 1004 mayinclude a display device, speaker, printing component, vibratingcomponent, etc.

From the above description, it is manifested that various techniques maybe used for implementing the concepts described in the presentapplication without departing from the scope of those concepts.Moreover, while the concepts have been described with specific referenceto certain implementations, a person of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departingfrom the scope of those concepts. As such, the described implementationsare to be considered in all respects as illustrative and notrestrictive. It should also be understood that the present applicationis not limited to the particular implementations described above, butmany rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions are possiblewithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a User Equipment (UE) forhandling repetitions of transmissions in a wireless communicationsystem, the method comprising: receiving a Radio Resource Control (RRC)configuration comprising a first parameter configured with a first valueand a second parameter configured with at least one second value, eachof the first value and the at least one second value indicating a numberof Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetitions; receivingDownlink Control Information (DCI) on a Physical Downlink ControlChannel (PDCCH) scheduling a PUSCH transmission; selecting, according tothe DCI, one of the first parameter and the second parameter todetermine a number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission;determining the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmissionas the first value when the first parameter is selected; determining thenumber of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission as one of the atleast one second value indicated by the DCI when the second parameter isselected; and performing the PUSCH transmission for a number of timesbased on the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmission. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting the secondparameter to determine the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission when the DCI has a DCI format associated with the secondparameter and comprises an index indicating the one of the at least onesecond value.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second parameterdefines an association between the index and a set of values including athird value indicating a starting symbol of the PUSCH transmission and afourth value indicating a number of consecutive symbols of the PUSCHtransmission.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first parameter andthe second parameter are configured per a Bandwidth Part (BWP) basis. 5.A User Equipment (UE) for handling repetitions of transmissions in awireless communication system, the UE comprising: one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executableinstructions embodied thereon; and at least one processor coupled to theone or more non-transitory computer-readable media, and configured toexecute the computer-executable instructions to: receive a RadioResource Control (RRC) configuration comprising a first parameterconfigured with a first value and a second parameter configured with atleast one second value, each of the first value and the at least onesecond value indicating a number of Physical Uplink Shared Channel(PUSCH) repetitions; receive Downlink Control Information (DCI) on aPhysical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) scheduling a PUSCHtransmission; select, according to the DCI, one of the first parameterand the second parameter to determine a number of PUSCH repetitions forthe PUSCH transmission; determine the number of PUSCH repetitions forthe PUSCH transmission as the first value when the first parameter isselected; determine the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCHtransmission as one of the at least one second value indicated by theDCI when the second parameter is selected; and perform the PUSCHtransmission for a number of times based on the number of PUSCHrepetitions for the PUSCH transmission.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute thecomputer-executable instructions to: select the second parameter todetermine the number of PUSCH repetitions for the PUSCH transmissionwhen the DCI has a DCI format associated with the second parameter andcomprises an index indicating the one of the at least one second value.7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second parameter defines anassociation between the index and a set of values including a thirdvalue indicating a starting symbol of the PUSCH transmission and afourth value indicating a number of consecutive symbols of the PUSCHtransmission.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the first parameter andthe second parameter are configured per a Bandwidth Part (BWP) basis.